Inside Out

This beautiful, precious child is my granddaughter.  She’s in her cowgirl apparel, being a resident of the great state of Texas.  What you see is a perfect little girl:  robust, healthy, happy.  What you DON’T see is that inside she has a host of problems.  The most serious is something called HLHS which is Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, meaning she was born with half a heart.  Many years ago, this might have been instantly fatal.  Today there are several surgeries that can be done at various stages of the child’s life, each of which is risky.  A heart transplant at some point may be necessary.  She also has other physical issues and these remind us that what you see is not necessarily the whole picture…

I don’t share this with you to depress you or make you feel sorry for her.  She is one of the blessed ones to come out of the foster care system and be adopted by a family who loves her deeply and cares for her continually.  But, the truth is:  the appearance of all of us breaks down when you step inside.

What if you decided to move, but you had only a short time to pick out a house so all you could do was drive by?  From the street it was gorgeous.  Moving day arrives and you turn the key in the lock, but what you find is a disaster.  You feel like the victim of bait and switch.

How do you suppose God feels when our interior doesn’t match our exterior?  Disappointed as you would be with your house purchase?  After all, He purchased you with the blood of His Son.

Doctors can try to repair what’s invisible to us.  Some of their efforts will be visible – machines, tubes, etc.  But, only the Great Physician can repair your insides and mine.  We often put on a show for those around us.  No one wants to admit that, of course.  We cover up – as Adam and Eve did – afraid of being “naked and ashamed”.  We wear sharp clothes, fix ourselves up, use proper “Christianeze”, promise to pray for everyone.  On the outside:  what a package!  But, if God suddenly turned us inside out:  what then?  Would we run to find something to hide behind?  But, wouldn’t it be better to have NOTHING to hide?  Inside even better than outside?

What if you stood in front of a mirror, adjusting your hairdo and suddenly you actually saw what was inside?  Your body as a shell with its inside visible?  Not veins and organs, but thoughts and attitudes and motives “open and laid bare” (Hebrews 4:12) and that’s what everyone could see plainly.  Would they be stunned?  Horrified?  Would they shrink back and stop trusting you?  We carry around the burden of the flesh called “self”  (Romans 7).  But, there is help.  However, nobody goes to the doctor if they think they’re fine.  Have you taken a good look at yourself lately?  Not what you see in the mirror.  How transparent are you?   “Beauty is only skin deep”, so the saying goes.  Some have said, “She’s as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside.”  Really?  If our inside doesn’t match our outside, that makes us a hypocrite – defined as an actor, a deceiver, a liar.  Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things”, meaning corrupt and mortally sick.

The Bible offers some answers and some hope.

What the Lord does:

1 Chronicles 28:9 – He searches the heart.

Psalm 26:2 – He examines the heart and mind.

Psalm 44:21 – He knows the secrets of the heart.

1 Corinthians 14:25 – He lays bare those secrets.

Matthew 5:8 – He blesses the pure in heart.

What we can ask of Him:

Psalm 86:11 – Give me an undivided heart.

Proverbs 16:23 – May my heart be wise and guide my mouth.

Psalm 139:23 – Search me and know my heart.

What are your motives?  How about your view of others? Of yourself?  Ask God to give you His perspective.  Who am I, God?  How do YOU see me?  Keep me strong as you cut away the diseased flesh within.  May I not bail on the process before it even starts.  My granddaughter’s only chance has been to submit herself to the pain of surgery.  Because of that, she is doing well today.

Change my heart, O God

Make it ever true

Change my heart, O God

May I be like You.

Real, honest, transparent, and true.  The same inside and out!

“Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”     (1 Samuel 16:7)